3D Stochastic Modeling of Karst Aquifers
logmein-verification-code.txtThrough a research initiative between Schlumberger Water Services and University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, a new methodology to model karst conduits was developed in a stochastic framework. The research work has concluded, and we uploaded the article presenting the results achieved along with a 30 min. video registered during a webinar organized by the two parties above.
Karst aquifers are important groundwater resources and are considered as the main freshwater resource for 25% of the world's population. Karst aquifers are very heterogeneous. The dissolution of calcite by infiltrating water produces preferential flow paths (conduit networks) within these aquifers. The presence of these large voids can present geotechnical risks (tunnels, dams, etc) and create flow paths which make karstic springs particularly vulnerable to contamination. Quantifying the uncertainty is therefore essential, but the available modeling techniques for karst aquifers make it challenging to allow this kind of studies. Stochastic approaches have proven their efficiency in uncertainty estimation in many other fields of application. The present thesis proposes a new methodology to model karst aquifers, in a stochastic framework. The resulting models are consistent with the actual knowledge about these aquifers and their particular genesis processes (speleogenesis).
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Karst